Watching from a front-row seat next to the dugout Sunday night, the owner saw -- and applauded, even -- as Pettitte pitched the Yankees within one victory of a return trip to the World Series.

	Pettitte

Pettitte's 9-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox gave the Yankees a 3-1 edge in the AL Championship Series. It was his second win of the postseason and reinforced his reputation as one of the Yankees' best big-game performers.

"It was a huge win for us in a very emotional game for me," Pettitte said.

Not bad for a guy that Steinbrenner challenged in midseason to "show what kind of man he is."

Steinbrenner made the remark after Torre and general manager Brian Cashman persuaded the Boss not to ship Pettitte -- a deal was close with Philadelphia -- before the July 31 trading deadline.

At the time, Pettitte was 7-8 and seemed distracted, possibly by his father's heart problems back in Texas.

"Mechanically and mentally, I struggled," he said.

Since that time, helped along by pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre, he proved his worth, over and over again in finishing 14-11.

After Pettitte pitched 7 1/3 innings to beat Texas in Game 2 of the Division Series -- Steinbrenner personally complimented him in the Yankee Stadium clubhouse afterward -- he came back with another 7 1/3 effective innings against Boston.

Troy O'Leary hit an RBI single in the second and Jose Offerman singled home a run in the third.

Pettitte eventually struck out Mike Stanley with runners on first and second to end the third. The Red Sox did not get another runner past first against the left-hander.

"I worked my way out of a number of jams by getting ground balls when I needed them," Pettitte said.

Pettitte was pulled after a one-out infield single by Offerman in the eighth. As Mariano Rivera came in from the bullpen, Pettitte got a big cheer from Yankees fans near the third-base dugout.

Steinbrenner stayed in his seat to clap along, then took a sip from a water bottle as Pettitte accepted congratulations.

Pettitte allowed eight hits, walked one and struck out five in improving to 6-4 lifetime in postseason play. His 4.52 ERA is not overly impressive, but it does not reflect how clutch he has been.

Pettitte beat Atlanta 1-0 in the pivotal Game 5 of the 1996 World Series, and also pitched shutout ball as the Yankees completed a sweep of San Diego in last year's World Series.

And now the Yankees are one win away from their third World Series in four years. Torre couldn't think of a better person to put them in that position than Pettitte.

"He's such a good guy to go along with everything else that he's been through," Torre said.